By Peter A. Martin

The Northeastern men’s rowing team had one of its best showings in years this past weekend at the 43rd annual Head Of The Charles Regatta.

“It was a great step in the right direction for our program,” said junior captain Bill Benjamin.

The team’s success began Saturday when one of the Northeastern entries in the Club 8 took 11th place in one of the largest and toughest events of the regatta. The event featured 69 crews, several of them international competitors. The second Northeastern crew was disqualified due to eligibility issues after rowing a strong race.

But it was Sunday afternoon in the Championship 4 and Championship 8 events, the marquee events of the regatta, that the Huskies showed they were a much-improved team.

The Huskies’ entry into the Championship 4 managed to finish 16th with a time of 18:07.362, despite a collision that happened during the course of the race. The collision slowed the team down and Northeastern was assessed a one minute penalty for failing to yield the right of way.

The boat was on pace to crack the top five of 18 in their event when the collision occurred.

The Championship 8, the most prestigious event of the regatta, was where the Huskies had their best finish. Clocking a time of 14:43.172, the Husky men managed to finish sixth, and just 40 seconds behind the leaders, the United States National Team “A” boat.

Their time was good enough to place them ahead of some impressive competition including: the United States National Team “B” boat; perennial power houses Yale and Brown; and cross-town rivals Harvard.

Despite the success, the team has a bigger goal in mind.

“[Success] is never enough, it’s enough when you are on the podium at Dad Vails or Eastern Sprints winning a national championship,” Benjamin said. “It was a good day for us, but that is our goal.”

The women’s crew participated in the regatta as well, taking 13th in the Club 8, 19th in the Championship 4 and a very strong 12th out of 39 crews in the Championship 8.

The Huskies next take the water at the Foot Of The Charles Regatta against Harvard, Boston University and Brown Nov. 17. The regatta begins at MIT and runs up the Charles toward Harvard University’s campus.

The Huskies kick off their sprint-racing season the last weekend of March at the San Diego Crew Classic.